Apartment Industry Colleagues,And so the August Congressional Recess…I mean “work period”…has arrived. Like kids exiting the classroom for their hard-won summer break, members of Congress flee the Capitol for friendlier climes (they hope) in their home states. The five-week recess will be occupied with town hall meetings, campaign events, fundraising and fact-finding trips to places around the...

The multifamily industry has a long history of peer collaboration. From operational best practices to supplier and system recommendations to appropriate benchmarking metrics and all kinds of reference points in between, it’s not uncommon for owners and managers to tap into peer and comp sets for experience, advice, and new ideas. In a conference atmosphere, that tactical networking is often muted...

A common call for Maintenance comes from a clogged or slow drain. Unfortunately, there are a multitude of commercials telling our residents that such irritants can be easily removed by using a bottle of chemicals. “The commercial says “safe for all plumbing,” so that means it’s OK for us to use it as well, right?” residents think.
No!
First of all, every service request that involves standing...

I’m often accused of putting myself in ridiculous situations just to get a good story out of it. I beg to differ—though the evidence is rather damning.
I guess I didn’t, for example, have to rent one bedroom of a two-bedroom apartment just to “save a little money” while vacationing in San Diego. I spent those two nights sharing a bedroom wall—and a bathroom—with a total stranger who believed in “...